Iran’s parliament has confirmed Mehrdad Akhlaqi Ketabchi as defence minister, bringing an end to months under acting leadership at the ministry. The vote took place on Sunday, and it puts a long-serving figure from the defence sector in charge of the country’s arms production and procurement network.
Akhlaqi succeeds Majid Ebn al-Reza, who had filled the post temporarily after Aziz Nasirzadeh, the previous minister, was killed in February during strikes carried out by the US and Israel.
Akhlaqi’s career in defence and aerospace
Akhlaqi has worked in Iran’s defence industry for decades and has held senior positions in the aerospace and missile sectors. He is under US and EU sanctions linked to his work in the defence field.
Plans to rebuild the military-industrial base
In a programme presented to lawmakers, Akhlaqi committed to restoring the military-industrial infrastructure, speeding up defence technology development and widening cooperation with private companies.
He also addressed Washington directly. He warned that any new American miscalculation would meet a forceful response from the Iranian people and fighters, and said Tehran had moved to counter a possible US use of the “mother of all bombs” against Iran.
Reported US strike options against Iran
reported this week that the US has drawn up strike plans that could involve the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, known as the “mother of all bombs”, against Iranian energy facilities and nuclear sites if President Donald Trump orders renewed combat. The weapon is the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal.
Akhlaqi told the US president to concentrate on withdrawing his forces safely from the region. He said that if a single bomb were dropped, many of those troops would be carried out “in a horizontal position”.
